A global apparel retailer faced growing pressure from investors and regulators under the EU CSDDD and UK Modern Slavery Act, but had visibility into fewer than half its Tier 1 suppliers and almost none of its Tier 2 and 3 fabric and raw material sources. Internal audits were inconsistent across regions, and there was no single, comparable score the sustainability team could report to the board.
The retailer's board had also flagged reputational exposure following a competitor's high-profile supply chain controversy the previous year, adding urgency to close the visibility gap before its own annual sustainability disclosure.
SYNE rated the retailer's full disclosed supplier panel using the Supplier Ratings methodology, layering in Nth-tier supply chain mapping and dedicated modern slavery screening across the highest-risk sourcing countries. Onboarding was phased by tier and region, starting with the highest-spend Tier 1 relationships before extending to Tier 2 fabric mills and Tier 3 raw material sources.
Analysts prioritised sourcing countries with elevated baseline compliance risk, cross-referencing each supplier against SYNE's Market & Trade Intelligence controversy database before any on-site or desktop verification began.
940 suppliers were rated within nine months, with 62 flagged for immediate compliance remediation under the Compliance & Labor Standards dimension. The panel-wide average grade improved from B to AA over the following rating cycle, and the retailer now reports a single comparable supplier sustainability score to its board each quarter.
The retailer has since embedded the Supplier Rating requirement into its standard vendor contract template, making a minimum B grade a condition of onboarding for any new Tier 1 relationship going forward.
